Fourth Joint Masjid Basketball Tournament Organized by SCMCO
350 players representing 26 mosques from all over Southern California gathered at the American Sports Center on December 26th to participate in the “Fourth Joint Masjid Basketball Tournament” organized by the Southern California Muslim Community Organization (SCMCO).
The tournament was a mega event organized by SCMCO, an umbrella organization of mosques in SoCal, that aims to bring the Muslim community together through social activities.
At the outset, the Rules and Regulation Committee lead Hafiz Azeem Syed explained the rules of engagement to the participating players. He also acted as the Event spokesman. He extended a heartfelt welcome to the players and the audience.
SCMCO’s mission is to organize activities and mobilize the community in a manner that forges unity in the community, stated the event’s core executive organizers Abdul Aziz Hafeez. It was a rare delight to see over 400 players and spectators performing salah together. Hafiz Anas Amla led the prayer. Executive Member of Islamic Shura Council Dr Ahmed Soboh said, “I have no words to describe my feelings. May Allah always gather us all for the benefit of this Ummah.” He applauded the efforts of the Organizing Committee for organizing the event.
The competition began at 9:30 AM and ended at 7:00 PM with a great display of team spirit and competition in the air. Professional referees were at hand to perform their duties. The prizes were presented by SCMCO Organization Committee members Abdul Aziz Hafiz, Hafiz Azeem Syed, Adil Nyear and Dawar Naqvi.
At the concluding ceremony, SCMCO Chairperson Dawar Naqvi thanked everyone for their contribution. He thanked ALLAH for making this program successful. He admired the hard work of his teammates. He said without their efforts the event could not have been possible. He especially thanked the team of youth volunteers who ran the enrollment process successfully.
SCMCO presented the Humanitarian Award to Dr Faisal Qazi for launching the campaign to collect $215,000 for the San Bernardino victims. SCMCO also presented the best Supportive Masjid award to the Chino Valley Islamic Center. SCMCO also extended felicitations to the Basketball Champions.
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